The Dandelion Garden
by QueenOfPears
Summary: Athene Redwood always considered herself normal, besides a few shall we say "quirks", such as planting dandelions, among other things. She always knew that magic existed, but never did she think that she was a witch. Now she gets to go to school in a secret castle of all things. No, normal would be the last thing to call Athene Redwood. OC. Eventual Romance. Golden Trio Generation


At the age of three, Athene Redwood was not normal. It started when she was trying to show her momma the pretty picture she drew on a regular piece of paper with some large crayons, when her momma shooed her away so she could talk to their neighbor. Athene frowned, but was not a disobedient child, like her mean cousin Audrey. No, she just frowned and toddled away to the edge of the yard by the big oak tree where she saw some of her toys lying around.

She plopped herself down and pouted with her eyes downcast. She worked really hard on that picture. But maybe there was something else she could do to get her momma's attention. But what? If the picture didn't get her attention she didn't know what could. That's when she noticed a small bird hopping about.

"Hello Mr. Birdy" She quietly said, eyeing the bird with childish curiosity. The bird cocked its head and ruffled its feathers and rather unexpectedly…it replied.

"That's _Mrs._ Birdy to you young hatchling." All Athene could do was stare for a moment before shyly apologizing to _Mrs._ Birdy. A look of wonder crossed her face. "I didn't know that birds could talk. I thought they could only sing."

"Oh, dear, we do love singing, but we've always been able to talk. You silly humans never seem to hear, though. Such a shame" Mrs. Birdy hopped a bit closer to Athene and shook her small head. Athene cautiously scooted closer to Mrs. Birdy and dipped her head to get a closer look at the small creature. She was pretty. A lovely dusty tan underbelly and light brown overall with darker and lighter streaks mingling in her wings, and a short beak. She was a bit plump, '_But that suits her' _thought Athene. A name popped into her head as she finished her inspection.

"You're a sparrow, aren't you? Daddy told me. All of you are that lovely tan and brown!"

Mrs. Birdy puffed up her chest in pride of being called lovely. "How nice of you to say, dear. Yes I am a sparrow. I'm glad you like our colors, most others find us to be plain because we are so common." She shook her head once more. "Oh, but why? Common things can be very pretty! Like this;"

Athene plucked a small dandelion from the grass next to them. "See, the flower-weed is _everywhere. _Momma always gets real mad because they're all over, not like her garden" she points over to in front of the house where a tidy and colorful garden was. "I like them though, because they're like little suns, and no matter where I am there's always one to shine up at me" Athene grinned at her small companion who was looking at her with rapt attention.

"You have such a wonderful outlook, hatchling! More humans should be like you." Shyly beaming at her from the praise, Athene asked about what kind of things birds' nests were made of. She and Athene then spent the next half hour or so chatting amiably and questioning each other about why they did or didn't do certain things.

"Why in the name of the Great Bird do you humans summon water from the strange string to rain on the grass when it will rain anyway?" It only took Athene a moment to realize that Mrs. Birdy was referring to a garden hose. "Momma says that it doesn't always rain when its 'posed to an' we need to help the grass stay happy an' green" Mrs. Birdy accepted the explanation though she still found it odd.

"ATHENE! Time to come in, sweetie!" Mrs. Redwood called from the porch. Athene had forgotten that she wanted to get her attention with something other than her picture and quickly felt ashamed that she had gotten distracted from her task, but felt it was worth it to meet Mrs. Birdy.

"I have to go now, momma wants me." She gave Mrs. Birdy an apologetic glance. "Oh, that's quite alright dear, I know I would have a fit if my hatchlings didn't listen to me when I called." Athene fidgeted with her overall straps, looking unsure of herself.

"Mrs. Birdy… Can we be friends?" She quietly muttered. Mrs. Birdy chirped to herself in amusement. "That would be quite nice, dear" Athene in her sudden joy of gaining her first ever friend scooped up Mrs. Birdy and planted a delicate kiss on her head. "Thank you so much!" Athene squealed in excitement.

Mrs. Birdy, not quite registering what just happened, looked dazedly at Athene and tweeted a short little melody. The first two notes we short and descended in pitch and the final note held for a few seconds and was a bit higher than the first two. "If I'm ever in the area and you'd like to talk, just give a whistle and I'll be there, and If you hear it then we can meet in front of this tree, okay, dear?"

"Athene c'mon!"

Too excited to realize that she couldn't whistle, she quickly nodded her head and clumsily got up. "Bye, Mrs. Birdy!" She waved as she started to run back to her house and mother, before running back and grabbing her discarded picture and kissing the top of Mrs. Birdy's head once more and running to her house for a final time.

Mrs. Birdy watched as she ran off to her mother. She couldn't help but be reminded of her last clutch, who had left the nest quite some time ago and now had families of their own. They always were rather excitable. She saw Athene gently tug at her mother's dress and hand her the piece of paper and watched as the smile grew on her mother's face.

Mrs. Redwood scooped up Athene and listened to her as she rambled about her new friend, Mrs. Birdy and all the questions they asked each other. Mrs. Redwood nodded her head and had that "knowing" smile. She thought of course, that Athene was imagining it, as most children do. Little did she or Athene know this was just the beginning.


End file.
